Blogging Miles Around the Metro

The University of the Philippines College of Fine Arts has its summer workshops all lined up.  Anyone residing in Metro Manila, now’s your chance.

The UP College of Fine Arts opens its 2007 Summer Art Workshops.  Offered are workshops in Children’s Art, Basic Drawing and Basic Photography. The workshops will run from April 10 to 20, and will be held every day from 9 AM to 12 noon, at the UP College of Fine Arts, Bartlett Hall, E. Jacinto St., Diliman, Quezon City. For details, please visit the College of Fine Arts or call the Administration Office at 981-8500 local 3978 and look for Elma.

Popularity: 13% [?]

Registration for the 9th Tour of the Fireflies is now open! Every year, a bunch (if you can call 3,000 at last year’s count a bunch) of cyclists and biking enthusiasts (the youngest of which last year was five years old) get together for a multi-city bike ride to promote awareness on clean air and the benefits of biking.

9th Tour of the Fireflies
April 15, Sunday
Tiendesitas, Pasig

early on-site registration starts at 530am
morning program starts at 6:00am
rides start at 7:00am
pre-registration: ongoing at below-listed registration centers

Pre-event Exhibit: April 14-15 Tiendesitas

Tour Backgrounder
Every April for the past eight years, the Firefly Brigade have been mobilizing people to celebrate cleaner air initiatives via a leisurely bicycle ride around Metro Manila dubbed Tour of the Fireflies (ToF). The ToF is a 50-kilometer bicycle ride around Metro Manila at an easy, controlled pace that allows anyone who can ride a bike to participate and have fun. The cyclists don colorful, environment-themed costumes while pedaling at approximately 12-15 kilometers per hour through at least six cities. The main objective of the event is to raise public awareness about the health and environmental dangers of air pollution.

The theme this year is CYCLE FOR CLEAN ENVIRONMENT and is a celebration of initiatives for sustainable transportation and environmental protection. This is in synergy with international Earthday efforts which makes the ToF a perfect Earth Day event. Our major partner is the Department of Environment and Natural Resources.

The Tour will passthrough the cities of Pasig , Taguig, Makati , Pasay , Manila and Quezon City . Start and end venue will be at the Tiendesitas where a morning and afternoon program will be staged.

Prizes for Best costumed participants, largest contingent, oldest and youngest riders are at stake.

For other details, please log on to: www.fireflybrigade.org or call 9220368

Photo taken by Audie dela Cruz, courtesy of Fara Manuel.

Popularity: 20% [?]

Greeted by a makeshift North Gate of the Tiananmen Square, we walked through the red tunnel entrance, and into a display of lights, Chinese acrobats, laserlight shows, inflatable palaces and a walk-in freezer of minus 18 degrees. The World Light Expo Philippines 2007 has brought to Manila exhibitions that children would marvel at, while the grownups they pull around would spend time either scrutinizing or enjoying (depending on how easy you are to please).

I was impressed with the resourcefulness of the teams that created the displays, from the ceramic dragon (made from 100,000 pieces of Chinaware), to the peacock display (made out of vials filled with colored water), to the smaller dragon display (made of discarded CDs), though there were some displays that were rather bare (I recall the lonely “grass” mask display in one dark corner). The Water Screen Laser Show was entertaining, and we gawked in awe at the Chinese Circus Performances. With an admission price of two hundred pesos per head (PhP 200, roughly four US dollars), the Expo would be a good place to bring your kids, or nieces and nephews. Lovers would probably enjoy strolling under the twinkling arc displays too.

Skeptical at the attendant’s announcement that the temperature within the Harbin Ice and Light Festival was minus eighteen degrees Centigrade, we walked into the ice box and immediately felt how Jing described “chopped meat feels like.” For an added one hundred pesos (PhP 100, about 2 US dollars), we tropical islanders got to wobble around like penguins on the icy floor, and appreciate ice sculptures of penguins, horses, and a rather odd-looking Virgin Mary. Should you want to literally chill, you could always hang out in the colorful igloo, or line up behind the kids zipping down on the ice slide. For those who want to test their limits, you could also challenge an adversary to whomever could stay in the freezer the longest, more macho points to whomever wouldn’t take the parka jacket they offer at the entrance. Winner gets his nose slopped off due to gangrene.

The Expo was enjoyable, and would make a good family visit. Many thanks to Petita and Eric for bringing us there (they had some of their pre-nuptial shots taken there, by photographer extraordinaires Bernice and Jing).

The World Light Expo Philippines is located along the Roxas Boulevard and Coastal Road Junction in Parañaque City, and will be there until April 22, 2007.

Photos by Bernice de Leon and Marielle Nadal.

Popularity: 15% [?]

I’m sorry but posting something on Coke would be the anti-thesis of me. Instead, I’m going to talk about the recent music act that came to Bangkok - Eclectic Method. They performed on the opening night of Club Culture, which is a new trend of clubs that situate themselve outside the main clubbing areas. Eclectic Method, is hailed as one of the best VJ DJs around having produced AV mashups for the likes of Gnarls Barkley, Prodigy, Basement Jaxx, Coldcut, and Fatboy Slim.

Personally, the whole show seems to be scattered without proper time for people dance to the tunes. The transition between each song is just too short. Most of the time people are left stranded wondering what happened to the song they were getting down to. Below is a clip of Eclectic Method @ Club Culture:

Popularity: 11% [?]